Italy Gives U.S. Women First Loss at Worlds

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 7, 2010) – The U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team lost for the first time at the FIVB World Championship Sunday evening after falling to Italy 25-16, 24-26, 27-25, 27-25 in a second-round Pool F match at Nagoya, Japan.

Team USA, ranked second in the world by the FIVB, falls to 4-1 in Pool F as records from the first round versus qualified second-round teams carry over. Italy, ranked fourth in the world, improves to 3-2. For the tournament, the U.S. is now 6-1 overall counting all its first-round matches. In the process, Italy snapped USA’s 17-match FIVB tournament win streak dating back to the FIVB World Grand Prix held in August.

The Americans, currently in second place in Pool F and one match behind group leader Brazil (5-0), challenge Netherlands on Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. Japan Time (1:30 a.m. Pacific Time) in their next match. Team USA concludes the pool against top-ranked Brazil on Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. Japan Time (9 p.m. Pacific Time on Nov. 9). The top two teams in the eight-team Pool F advance to the semifinal round, along with the top two teams from Pool E.

Italy took an early 5-1 lead in the opening set and used a 6-2 run to take 16-10 lead at the second technical timeout en route to 25-16 victory. Italy held a 17-9 advantage in kills in the first set. The Americans built a 16-11 lead in the second set with a 6-0 scoring run, but Italy rallied to take a 22-21 lead and U.S. needed to save a set point before winning 26-24. The U.S. used a 13-4 scoring run to rally from an 11-6 deficit to take a 19-15 lead in the third set, but Italy had the last rally in coming back to win 27-25. Similar to the third set, Team USA held a 20-16 lead in the fourth set only to have Italy come back to take a 27-25 victory after it saved two U.S. set point opportunities.

“Italy played a good match and deserved to win,” U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) said. “Italy was defensively very good tonight. They out-dug us. That was the difference. We will regroup and get ready for our next match with the Netherlands.”

“Italy played a great match,” U.S. Captain Jennifer Tamas (Milpitas, Calif.) said. “It was tough to put a ball away on their court. We are still trying to improve on the little things. We will put in our best effort from here on. We are a good passing team. We need to focus on that the rest of the tournament.”

McCutcheon started Tom and Larson at outside hitter, Akinradewo and Bown at middle blocker, Hooker at opposite and Glass at setter. Sykora was the libero during the match. Cynthia Barboza (Long Beach, Calif.) subbed in the final three sets as a server, while Lindsey Berg (Honolulu) and Ogonna Nnamani (Bloomington, Ill.) were part of a double-switch in the opening set.

Italy overcame a 16-10 Team USA advantage in blocks by holding a 67-52 margin in kills. Italy also had a slim 4-2 edge in aces as both teams committed 22 errors. Italy held a 95-85 dig advantage and limited the Americans to a .188 hitting efficiency and 30.6 kill percent. In contrast, Italy converted 38.7 percent of its attacks for points and had a .231 hitting efficiency. Team USA had a 51 excellent service receptions on 91 attempts with just five errors, while Italy had 47 excellent receptions on 84 attempts and three errors.

Italy was led by Serena Ortolani’s 23 points on 21 kills, one block and an ace. Simona Gioli contributed 18 points on 16 kills and two blocks, while Antonella Del Core and Francesca Piccinni added 15 and 13 points, respectively.

“I'm happy and proud of my team for this performance against one of the top teams in the world,” Italy Head Coach Massimo Barbolini said. “We had good defending and blocking tonight. We played well when we were behind.”

In the World Championship second round, the top four teams in first round Pools B and C crossover into Pool F and play teams from the opposite pool with first-round records versus remaining teams carrying over. Likewise, Pool A and Pool D crossover into Pool E for the second round. The top two teams in Pools E and F advance to the semifinal to be held Nov. 13 followed by the medal matches on Nov. 14. The third and fourth-place teams in the second round will play for fifth through eighth place in the final round held Nov. 13-14, while the fifth and sixth place teams in the second round will play for ninth through 12th place in the final round.

Italy scored four unanswered points to take a 5-1 advantage in the opening set, then built a 7-2 margin with an ace. Team USA narrowed the deficit to 7-4 with an Italian error and Hooker block. Italian scored three straight points to take a 10-4 lead. After an Italian service error, Bown put down an overpass kill and block around a Larson spike to reduce the deficit to 10-8. Italy regained a five-point cushion after a block and kill at 14-9, then went into the second technical timeout leading by six at 16-10. Italy stretched its lead to 22-14 with three straight points. Italy scored the final two points of the set for a 25-16 victory. Tom and Bown scored a team-high four points in the opening set in which Italy held a 17-9 advantage in kills.

The U.S. picked up an early 4-2 lead in the second set with a kill and block by Tom followed by a Hooker kill on consecutive plays. Italy answered with the next two points to tie the set at 4-all resulting in an early USA timeout. Consecutive USA attack errors turned the lead back to Italy at 7-6. Hooker, Akinradewo and Larson scored consecutive kills to yield a 13-11 U.S. advantage and an Italian timeout. Out of the break and Tom continuing her serve, Hooker slammed a kill and Akinradewo and Larson stuffed consecutive Italian attacks to extend the American lead to 16-11 at the second technical timeout. Out of the break, Italy scored two quick points to cut the deficit to 16-13. Team USA responded with an Akinradewo kill and Hooker block at 18-13. Out of Italy’s second timeout, Larson slammed a kill for a third straight USA point at 19-13. Italy scored seven of eight points to tie the set at 20-all before a Hooker kill stopped the run. Italy gained the lead at 22-21 on a back-row attack error by Hooker. However, Tom hammered a kill and Akinradewo stuffed an Italian attack to put the Americans back in front 23-22. Italy went back into the lead with a set-point opportunity on an ace at 24-23. The U.S. saved the set point and went into the lead with kills from Tom and Akinradewo, then won the set at 26-24 with an Italian attack error. Hooker, Akinradewo and Tom all had six points in the second set for the U.S., which turned in five blocks in the period.

Italy scored the opening two points of the third set, but the U.S. answered with a Tom kill to tie the set at 2-all. Italy returned to a two-point cushion at 4-2 after a U.S. attack error. Italy increased its lead to 8-4 with three consecutive points heading into the first technical timeout. Team USA cut the deficit in half at 8-6 with a Larson kill after an Italian error. Italy built a five-point edge at 11-6 with three unanswered points leading to a USA timeout. The Americans sliced the gap to one at 11-10 with a Bown kill followed by three Italian attack errors. Bown tied the set at 12-all with a block after an Italian service error. The Americans returned to the lead at 16-15 with a Tom kill and Akinradewo block going into the second technical timeout. Out of the break, Hooker hammered an attack and Tom served an ace to extend the USA lead to 18-15 on four unanswered points. Out of an Italy timeout, U.S. scored a fifth straight point on an Italy error at 19-15. Italy narrowed the gap in half at 21-19 with consecutive points leading to a USA timeout. Out of the break, Italy collected a third straight point with a USA attack error at 21-20, then tied the set at 22-all with an ace that trickled off the net. Italy saved a set point and took the lead back at 25-24 with an overpass kill, then won at 27-25. Hooker pocketed six points in the third set to lead the Americans.

Team USA scored four straight points to take a 5-2 lead in the fourth set with two kills from Akinradewo around a kill and block from Hooker. Out of an Italian timeout, Akinradewo added another block to increase the margin to 6-2. Italy answered with two quick points to cut the gap to 6-4. The Americans reached the first technical timeout leading 8-4 with a Larson cross-court winner after a Italian service error. Out of the technical break, Italy scored six of the next seven points to take a 10-9 lead. However, Hooker followed a Bown kill with an ace to reverse the lead to the USA at 11-10. The Americans established a three-point cushion at 15-12 with two Hooker kills around an Italian error. The U.S. inched its lead to four points at 20-16 following an Italian service error and Bown block. However, Italy scored three quick points out of a timeout to slice the gap to a single point at 20-19. The Americans responded with a Larson kill and Bown block to take a three-point edge at 22-19. Italy answered with three points in a row to again tie the set at 22-all. However, the U.S. reached set point at 24-22 with a Hooker kill and Akinradewo block. Italy saved both set points and gained a match point at 25-24 with a USA error. Italy won the set at 27-25 on its second opportunity.